~ The Birth and Death of the Second America

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The South African Family Booyens

The Booyens Genealogy —

The writing of AmaBhulu required a massive amount of genealogical investigation. At this point, ten years of research has gone into this effort and the author’s genealogical work is widely referred to. It has also been copied to many websites.

Since the publication of the book, the author has been working away at compiling the Booyens genealogy. The building of the family tree is largely complete, filled in up to the early 20th century. This is often enough for interested descendants to recognize where they fit.

Work is continuing to add “flesh” to the bare bones of the tree itself. A new dedicated website has been created to serve as online home of this effort. More detail will be added over time, but at least two of the five “legs” of the tree have been completed as regards additional historical detail.

The author’s approach is to largely avoid communal genealogical websites. There are just too many mistakes, and there are too many people tinkering on the data. One classic mistake that is perpetuated on the Internet, is a transcription error that turned Battina Molinerus, the Dutch wife of Booyens progenitor Joen Pieter Boijens, into the fictitious Battina Moline Rus, a supposed French lady. Battina’s marriage to Joen Peter Boyens was in fact her second. Her first marriage was to Pieter Hollegraaf, also of Blokzijl in the Netherlands. She bore Hollegraaf two children and then married Boyens.

Joen Pieter was from The Eiderstedt peninsula in what was Denmark in the 1600s and far northern Germany in the 20th century. All this may be seen on the dedicated Booyens Genealogy site, which is available at Booyens.ca. Those interested in the broader detail of the Booyens Family of South Africa, or who feel they have detail that they should like to see added to this site, may feel free to contact the author.

Since publication of the book AmaBhulu February 2014, at least one correction, based on a rather exceptional event, has come to light as regards the Daniel Jan Andries branch of the family.